by The Honourable A. Brian Peckford
March 10, 2024
A vaccine dose is prepared in Kingston, Ont. Lars Hagberg, CP
Several childhood diseases long believed defeated are making a return. In Alberta, an outbreak of whooping cough has swept the province.
A decade-high 831 cases were reported last year, and more are still being confirmed.
Measles has made a come-back in Europe, with 58,000 cases reported last year. The first case in years has been recorded in B.C.
As well the first case of polio in the U.S. for decades was reported in 2022.
All three of these diseases had been brought close to extinction in the western hemisphere, hugely reducing child mortality rates. But all are highly contagious, measles and whooping cough in particular.
The problem in each case is growing public resistance to vaccination. According to a recent Angus Reid poll, close to 20 per cent of Canadian parents now say they are opposed to mandatory childhood vaccination, a four-fold increase since 2019.
What And a stunning 45 per cent of Canadians now oppose mandatory vaccination in schools, a measure required in Ontario and New Brunswick. That’s up from 30 per cent four years ago.
The underlying factor is a growing disbelief in the science surrounding vaccination.
Three in 10 Canadians are now skeptical about the effectiveness or safety of vaccination, and that grows to around half the male population between the ages of 35 and 54.
And while women are somewhat less troubled, nevertheless one in five are either outright opposed, or worried at the risks they believe are involved.
It might seem this trend parts company with common sense or even personal survival. Vaccination is one of the medical success stories of the modern era. Worldwide, tens of millions are saved every year by this procedure.
Before it became widely available early last century, childhood diseases took a terrible toll.
In 1900, one in five Canadian children died before their first birthday. Today only five children in a thousand die at that age. And several diseases, smallpox among them, have been eradicated entirely by a co-ordinated campaign of vaccination.
Perhaps some of the skepticism is due to the fact that few if any of us grew up in that earlier age when children were dying in their thousands. It appears that vaccination has fallen victim to its own success.
Even so, it’s important to understand why such opposition came about. And in that respect, it must be faced that growing anti-vaccine sentiments coincided with the emergence of the COVID epidemic.
Might it be that some of the measures adopted to combat the outbreak, with hindsight, felt heavy-handed. A number of worksites, among them healthcare facilities and long-term care homes, required employees to be vaccinated, often against their will.
While this policy was in most cases fully justifiable, it did give rise to resentment, and opposition to vaccination fed off that resentment. This is worth considering.
That said, the overall benefits of COVID vaccination are beyond dispute. The figures speak for themselves.
Up to January 2024, 105 million doses of COVID vaccine had been administered country-wide. Only one per cent of those were followed by serious health problems, and virtually none in children aged younger than 19.
The same point can be made from a different angle. From December 2020 to the end of September 2022, 10,800 Canadians who were unvaccinated died of COVID. Only one thousand who had all their shots died over the same period.
Still, there are lessons to be learned here. Our public health leaders must face the reality that however misinformed the opposition to vaccination may be, it exists and is on the rise.
An informed push-back is required. After several years of fighting COVID, the facts are beyond dispute. The benefits of vaccination, both to individuals and to the community at large, far outweigh the costs.
This story should be told.
Letters To The Editor
Times Colonist
Victoria
I have read your editorial entitled ‘ Its Beyond Dispute —Vaccines Protect Us .’
The content , evidence proving this assertion is unbelievably sparse: very selective use of data with no reference to research sources. Surely we should expect more from the fourth estate. Are you not aware that many results of so called covid deaths were wrongly reported , deaths of people with covid not from covid?
Obviously , you are unaware of the book ‘Turtles All The Way Down ‘ —Vaccine Science and Myth . It’s only a click away at Amazon . Here you will be faced with the science and data on the history of vaccines . I urge the authors of your editorial page to read it. It has 1200 references available to you on the science. Here you will find that almost all vaccines have not been properly tested before being made available for use by an innocent public. And the decrease in the incidence of many infectious diseases had occurred before vaccine introduction because of better sanitation and clean water. Ironically, with the rise of vaccines so too the rise of chronic diseases and autism, reaching epidemic proportions.
Secondly, you seem to be unaware of the Great Barrington Declaration authored by three of the world’s leading researchers. They are:
‘Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine at Harvard University, a biostatistician, and epidemiologist with expertise in detecting and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety evaluations.
Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University, an epidemiologist with expertise in immunology, vaccine development, and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician, epidemiologist, health economist, and public health policy expert focusing on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations.’
Their declaration of October , 2020 recommended a better way than was offered by Governments to combat the so called covid virus. It has the written support of 875,985 concerned citizens, 16,121 Medical and Public Health Scientists and 47,705 Medical Practitioners.
I urge your editors to read it.
Thirdly , you seem unaware of the adverse effects of the covid vaccines . In 3 years covid vaccine adverse events has surpassed the adverse events of all vaccines of the past 30 years. This has not been denied by the Governments. Previous vaccines showing just 25 deaths have been cancelled . Yet, thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries from the covid vaccines have happened and they are still sanctioned by Governments for public use —-even ads using taxpayers money urging its use . Are you unaware that masks do not work ( Brownstone Institute —Dr. Paul Alexander, and Hart Group—hartgroup.org) , and the PCR tests as operated in Canada are unreliable ?
Fourthly , closer to home you seem to be unaware of what has happened in our own Province.
Are you not aware of the unbelievable harassment of Dr. Charles Hoffe of Lytton? And that it is still ongoing , all a result of him asking questions about having his patients health checked by other medical personnel as a result of complications soon after having taken a covid vaccine.
Are you not aware of the work of Professor Douglas Allen of Simon Fraser University who published a paper in August , 2021 demonstrating that from all available literature at the time that it was most likely that the costs of the covid vaccines policy , lockdowns etc outweighed the benefits . The report is titled ‘Covid Lockdown Cost/Benefits: A Critical Assessment of the Literature.’ His conclusions have been validated .
Are you unaware of the work of Dr. Stev Pelich , Professor at University of British Columbia and his questions about covid vaccines and their efficacy.
Fifth, are you not aware that the safe and effective mantra, argument used by Government to persuade the public to take the vaccines has been shattered? The vaccines have proven to be unsafe and ineffective. The VAERS system in the US , a Government agency, reports that as of February 23, 2024 there have been 1,630,913 adverse covid vaccines events reported to that agency. And this a voluntary system. An earlier Harvard University study showed that this system capture less than 10% of cases. The European Medicines Agency reports similar findings.
Sixth , are you unaware of the work of the Canadian Covid Care Alliance ? Their website is packed with studies and reports by professionals. In one study they showed that the covid vaccines were doing more harm than good. I urge your editors to read and study this site. Dr Pelich , by the way, is co-chair of CCCA ‘s Scientific , Medical Advisory Committee.
Seventh, are you unaware of the great work of Canadians like Dr. Byram Bridle , Dr. Jessica Rose and Dr.Julie Ponesse, all giants in their fields of expertise , questioning the science and ethics of the Governments , Federal and Provincial , covid vaccine policies? You would do well to study their work .
Eight , are you unaware that serious questions of Constitutional validity have been raised about Governments covid actions and we are seeing many cases brought against individuals being dropped by the authorities . The recent ruling of Judge Mosley should give those who rushed a covid policy doubts , that they were overstepping constitutional bounds . No Government in Canada passed the Charter of Rights test of ‘demonstrable justification’ as required by Section 1 in implementing their covid measures. Not one cost benefit analysis was done. Important parts of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms have been ignored by the authorities.
Internationally , there are scores of eminent scientists who have produced research papers that seriously question Governments’ approach and who have been banned from being heard. I draw your attention to the website —totalityofevidence.com to review the work of over 40 such experts. Additional groups include The Brownstone Institute, The Panda Group and The Hart Group, and the Children’s Health Defence .
Such unbalanced reporting is contrary to the values of a free and democratic society. Science is never final —-the scientific method is one of ongoing questioning.
Respectively submitted ,
Honorable A. Brian Peckford P.C.
Last Surviving First Minister Who Signed The Constitution Act 1982 Which Includes The Charter of Right and Freedoms
Thank you Brian, that was a fantastic slap down of their lies with the truth!!.